Happy Gut - Happy Mind
"All disease begins in the gut" - Hippocrates
Ten years ago, my gut health wasn’t in great shape. I was continually bloated, sluggish and had brain fog. My doctor gave me the catch-all diagnosis of IBS, telling me I would likely have to manage it for life. I wasn’t willing to just accept that.
Thankfully, I stumbled across an NHS nutritionist who mentioned that someone she knew had ‘cured themselves’ by making kefir. That was all I needed to hear. I dove in and started making my own kefir at home - undoubtedly it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Discovering Fermenting
Pretty quickly, I was hooked on fermenting - experimenting with kefir, kombucha, kimchi, sauerkraut, you name it. I also learned that fibre was crucial for feeding the good bacteria those ferments introduced, so I upped my intake, including adding psyllium husk.
And lo and behold, my IBS basically disappeared. My gut health is now solid, and the positive knock on effects are significant - including better sleep, mood and energy.
Talking to the Gut Health OG, Tim Spector
When I had the chance to talk with Tim Spector (today’s guest on A New Way of Being) about gut health, I was pumped. Tim is a genetic epidemiologist and science writer focussing on the links between the gut microbiome, nutrition, and overall health.
His new book is the Food For Life cookbook - which I’ve already nicked a few ideas from. I’ve copied Tim’s breakfast - full fat greek yoghurt (120 grams), mixed with kefir, berries, nuts and seeds. I’ve also since upped my grain intake - swapping quinoa for rice, and caught some sneaky ultra processed foods that were slipping through the net - namely vegetable stock which I have swapped for miso paste.
Tim’s Six Gut Health Rules
Tim shares his six rules for a healthy gut in this episode, and it won’t surprise you to hear that increasing your intake of fermented foods and drinks is a big one. Being wary of ultra processed foods is another (check the ingredients on the loaf of bread you eat), as is aiming for 30 vegetables in a week (sounds hard - but once you redefine what qualifies as a vegetable, it is very doable), and pivoting our (unbalanced) relationship with protein.
The Gut-Brain Connection
So many of us feel rushed and harried, such is the frenetic pace of modern life and the number of inputs we receive. Feeling somewhat stressed plays havoc with the gut microbiome, but a poor microbiome also makes us far more susceptible to stress.
A healthy gut microbiome releases serotonin (found in SSRI anti-depressants) and GABA (found in diazepam) - so making a few simple gut health tweaks can make such a difference to our state of mind, and ability to cope with modern living.
Getting Started with Gut Health
I know for some people it seems overwhelming, but in my experience once you start it quickly gets interesting and easy. Like I said, focussing on my gut health is one of the best decisions I ever made - and I can’t recommend it enough.
Listen to Tim and I talking about gut health here. If you have any questions about easy gut health tweaks, including where I buy everything I need to make the above ferments, feel free to drop me a line - I’d love to help.